Peru attorney general files corruption complaint against president

Peru's attorney general filed a constitutional complaint accusing embattled President Pedro Castillo of criminal organisation and corruption, an action that could lead to the suspension of the leftist leader.

Castillo, who has survived two impeachment attempts since taking office in July last year, is already the subject of six criminal investigations.

The president has rejected the accusations and claims they are part of a political plot to unseat him.

"I am filing a constitutional complaint against Jose Pedro Castillo Terrones, in his capacity as President of the Republic, as the alleged perpetrator of crimes against the public peace in the form of a criminal organisation aggravated by his position as leader," Attorney General Patricia Benavides wrote in a document posted on Twitter.

The complaint, filed in parliament, also targets two of Castillo's former ministers: ex-transport and communications minister Juan Silva and Geiner Alvarado, who was in charge of housing.

They are suspected of influence peddling and considered to be part of the alleged criminal organisation led by the president.

It is the first time a sitting president of Peru has been targeted by such a complaint by an attorney general.

It would take at least 66 votes out of 130 to suspend Castillo, fewer than required for impeachment, and his left-wing parliamentary alliance only has a third of the seats.